Zoo Meerkats
Visiting a z'oo' or a wildlife shelter is a good place to see meerkats, rather than going through the expensive drama of trying to purchase one as a pet. Some zoos and wildlife parks allow visiters to feed the meerkats and adopt or sponsor a meerkat. Below is a list of zoos, shelters or parks that captivate meerkats. Please note that some of the following information may be out-dated. United States Los Angeles Zoo Here there are six meerkats at this Zoo. Chico is the most famous after his best friend Sparky died and he was left alone. After watching Meerkat Manor ''many visitors wanted the zoo to get him any friend. The Zoo said that he was find by himself and the process of getting him a new friend would take a long time. To get another meerkat, they would have to ask another zoo for one of there own. Finally Chico got a new friend from the Virginia Zoo named '''Barky'. They bonded easily and soon got four more friends from the North Carolina Zoo. Wildlife World Zoo and Aquarium The Wildlife World Zoo and Aquarium, located near Pheonix (Arizona, USA), is a large zoo which has two seperate meerkat enclosures. Wildlife World Zoo also, apparently, has meerkats located in their "small mammal" section. Woodland Park Zoo Located in Washington. On May 1, 2010 the Woodland Park Zoo welcomed eight new meerkats to their park. The new arrivals were from a nearby zoo, Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium, Tacoma, an hours drive away. The meerkats were kept inside for two days to recover from the trip and get used to their new caretakers and suroundings. They were allowed to wander out into ther enclosure at their own time. Once the meerkats settled in their were open to the public. All eight meerkats are doing find and can be visited at regular zoo hours. United Kingdom Axe Valley Bird and Animal Park Located in Devon, this park is home to two famous meerkat brothers. Wren and Rascal, two hand-reared meerkats, become renowned after their upbringing was published as a novel called The Meerkats of Summer Farm. The boys and their owners were also featured in both local and online news articles. Axe Valley Bird and Animal Park is still open today and still includes meerkats. Bristol Zoo Gardens There is a very large meerkat mob here at this zoo. The zoo-keepers here often feed their meerkats grapes, as treats. On occasions they also give the meerkats various toys for a day. The most notable toy would have to be a soccor ball, to celebrate the World Cup. The meerkats invented their own game of soccer, though who was on whose team was unknown Five Sisters Zoo A zoo in Scotland; Five Sisters Zoo is home to a family of meerkats who have an indoor and outdoor enclosure. In May, 2012, the zoo celebrated the birth of a pair of meerkat pups. For visitors who pay to be "A Zookeeper for the Day", they'll get the chance to work with the meerkats and see how meerkat care is undertaken. London Zoo London Zoo's meerkats have been the center of the media many times and are considered one of the zoo's top attractions. These London 'kats have been seen watching the documentary Meerkats 3D, opening Christmas presents, being tickled by their keeper, discovering snow and celebrating many births. Visitors at the zoo, with additional fee, can even join the meerkats - Roo and Liam - in their enclosure for a unique "Animal Encounter". Other members of the meerkat mob include mamma-meer Pipsqueak and her adorable offspring. Paradise Wildlife Park Originally called Broxbourne Zoo, this park's most reknown meerkat was a small pup named Picasso, who was born on a Monday morning in February, 2012. Little Picasso lives with his mother, father and another juvenile meerkat. Paradise Wildlife Park offers an 'encounter' program where visitors can meet the meerkats and hand-feed them. Twinlakes Animal Theme Park A lone female named Lilly became famous when an online Meerkat Match dating series was made in order to find her a mate. An article was written in The Times and an owner of a signal sandy colored young male read about her plite. It was arragned for Mr. Darcy '''to moved to Melton Mowbray all the way from Cambridge. On April 23, 2010 Lilly had her first date with the "handsome" Mr. Darcy. The two meerkats were always seen together; grooming and watch out for danger for each other. Soon the first litter of pups were born on July 11, 2010. Lilly's four healthy pups were named '''Eenie, Meenie, Miney and Stumpy-Mo. The smallest of the litter named Stumpy-Mo provided concern about his stumpy tail. He was the last of the pups to learn how to stand on two legs but he seems to be managing just fine without a full tail. Lilly and her family are doing find and can be visited at regular hours. Australia Monarto Zoo Located in South Australia, Monarto Zoo is an open-range zoo which was home to several meerkats, all of which were males. They were featured on television series such as Totally Wild. Sadly, they passed away due to old age. The new meerkats include an old female, who is believed to have surpassed her breeding age, and a young male. These meerkats are fed a varied diet of insects, small whole animals such as mice and dead day-old chicks, mince, mealworms and fruits. Adelaide Zoo Found in the capital of South Australia, Adelaide Zoo has two seperate enclosures for their micro-chipped meerkats, to separate the breeders from the non-breeders. In September, 2009, the Zoo welcomed three meerkat babies, whom became quite a hit in the Australian media. More recently, in September, 2010, meerkats from the other enclosure gave birth to another litter. Adelaide Zoo holds the most responsibilty for meerkat breeding in South Australia. Perth Zoo Like its southern Adelaide Zoo cousin, Perth Zoo, located in Western Australia, has two seperate enclosures, each containing its own meerkat colony. The purpose of seperate enclosures is to prevent brawls amongst unrelated members, and also to control their breeding habits. The "main" meerkat enclosure, generally housing a mother and her five sons, includes a hollow termite mound, a few large logs and plenty of shade. To educate people about their meerkats, Perth Zoo created a downloaded MP3 file of zoo keepers describing the meerkat's complex lives. This can be found on their website. Taronga Zoo Taronga Zoo, in New South Wales, became famous in 2009 when twin meerkat pups, Zanzibar and Nairobi, were born into the group, which now includes nine meerkat individuals. Taronga's meerkats were seen on the Australian version of The Zoo, which showed the males and females first meeting and included footage of the pups' birth. The mob was also seen in the children's book Mia the Meerkat. ''A few members of the group include dominant male '''Bob' (father of Zanzibar and Nairobi, he had to have some of his tail amputated due to an infection) and large competing dominant females, Kenya and Pretoria. Taronga Western Plains Zoo Located in New South Wales. Western Plains Zoo is the "other half" of Taronga Zoo and is a free-range zoo, where animals are kept in very large, fenced areas rather than little enclosures, this includes the meerkats. Their manor includes many climable obstacles, such as rocks and logs, and crawl-through pipes. If paid additional cost, a single visitor can enter the meerkat's exhibit for up to 30 minutes and assist the Zoo Keeper in holding and feeding the curious meerkats. Out of all the Zoos in Australia that offer meerkat-interaction, this is the most recommended as it is the cheapest, yet the longest-lasting. Melbourne Zoo Found in Victoria's capital, Melbourne Zoo is home to a family of slender- tailed meerkats. This zoo is one of very few in the country that allow visitors (at additional cost) to interact with the meerkats. Availible only at 11:30am, up to 4 people can enter the enclosure to hold and get nose-to-snout with the zoo's meerkats. These meerkats get a lot of enrichment, including hidden food, various large toys containing small rewards, live prey and food parcels, ensuring the animals are constantly active and display behaviours very similar to those found in the wild. Mogo Zoo Located in New South Wales, Mogo Zoo's meerkats are a huge attraction. Visitors are allowed to interact with the meerkats; stroking, holding and feeding them. In comparison to Melbourne Zoo's hands-on policy, the meerkat interaction here comes at a far greater cost as visitors can spend a much longer period (up to 20 minutes) with the meerkats and have the rare oppotunity to hand-feed them. Whilst most zoos enclose their meerkats with stone walls, glass, wiring or painted bricks, Mogo Zoo houses its meerkats in a green garden fence. Gorge Wildlife Park The Gorge Wildlife Park is found in South Australia. Admist the many native animal enclosures is a small exhibit of meerkats containing, what use to be, a group of non-breeding adults who were brought in from Adelaide Zoo. Their enclosure includes a shallow water feature for them to drink from. These meerkats are mostly fed a variety of fruits, vegetables, mealworms, day old chicks, boiled eggs and occasionally mince. Presently, due to the natural death of two of the meerkats, only one old female remains. Halls Gap Zoo Located in Victoria, Halls Gap Zoo is another one of the very few Zoos in Australia that offer a chance to meet the meerkats up close in a special 'Meerkat Encounter'. With this experience, visitors can feed and come into contact with the meerkats. It is unknown how many meerkats take residence at his Zoo, or what the conditions of their enclosure are like. An image of meerkat silhouttes is featured as the Zoo website's banner. Tasmania Zoo Located in Tasmania. This zoo's meerkats; Stompie, Stokkie and 'Suri, '''who all arrived in April 2012, were the first meerkats to enter the state. Their enclosure is approximately 120km (squared) and consists of heated sleeping dens, hollow logs, soft soil and sunbathing lights. Following the meerkats' settlement, the zoo organised a special, daily encounter (chance to feed the meerkats) for one lucky visitor. Canada Edmonton Valley Zoo Edmonton Valley Zoo is found in Alberta and is known to have a large variety of animals, including meerkats. The zoo was home to a famous meerkat named Muriel, who was isolated and mistreated by her family. Muriel was moved and lived most of her life with the zookeepers. She lived an unusually long life of 14 years, until she was euthanized in Janurary, 2008, due to her incapabily to move effectively, groom herself, eat well and sit down without assistance. It is unknown how many meerkats remain at the Zoo till this day. Europe Belfast Zoo Located in Northern Ireland. Over at the Belfast Zoo three new pups had been born. The group consisited of three adult females and two adult males. The dominant pair produced their first litter of three pups bringing their numbers up total of eight. The pups often come out in the morning and play all day. At noon they eat and take a nap then play till bedtime. Belfast Zoo curator was happy to have new meerkat pups and says, “The size and cute behaviour of the new babies will no doubt make them popular with our visitors. It is always great to see the arrival of new animals in the zoo." They pups probably will stay at the zoo for a year of too before they go to another to enter the breeding progam. New Zealand Auckland Zoo The largest Zoo in the country, and the biggest animal collection in New Zealand, Auckland Zoo is a large home to many animals. The meerkat enclosure here includes a perpex bubble, a glass dome where visitors can poke their heads up to get up close to the meerkats. The 'kats living here have been featured on the popular television program The Zoo'', which aired in New Zealand and Australia. Wellington Zoo Wellington Zoo is the first Zoo in New Zealand to have meerkats. The meerkats at this Zoo moved to a new enclosure rather recently and now share their exhibit with porcupines. The Wellington Zoo meerkats were included on the TV program The Zoo, which aired exclusively in New Zealand and Australia. It featured the meerkat's response to their prickly new neighbours. The group's size is yet to be determined. ﻿ Asia Singapore Zoo Singapore Zoo, as its name suggests, is located in Singapore in Southeast Asia. The zoo has an "open" concept where some animals travel around the park at their own free will. Meerkats can be found at Singapore Zoo in the Wild Africa area, though they are enclosed. It is unknown how many meerkats are in current residence. The meerkats are fed a variety of foods, including chicken drum sticks, apples, mealworms and more. A pair of Singapore Zoo meerkats were transported to Mysore Zoo in 2008. ﻿ Links Chico Los Angeles Zoo About Meerkats Wild Vs. Captivity Category:Other Meerkat Related Articles Category:Zoo meerkats